


On The Flipside

by Corrosive_Moon



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, M/M, i really don't know what i'm doing, it's weird - Freeform, just go with it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-08
Updated: 2015-06-15
Packaged: 2018-02-12 09:52:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2105244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corrosive_Moon/pseuds/Corrosive_Moon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's all fun and games until someone gets plowed into the ground by a gummi ship driven by a keyblade-wielding hero.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sora

"So Mister… Yorushi," Coordinater of the Medical Program of the prestigious Destiny University, Mikal Posluzny M.D., Ph.D, D. , etc, etc, says as he glances at my resume and transcript once more. "You want to be a part of our Medical Program?"

"Yes,sir," I answer promptly, my back straight and eyes forward.

"You were summa cum laude of your class, you speak Spanish, French, Japanese and English fluently, you've scored top marks on your SAT scores, you have at least one hundred and fifty hours of volunteer service and…" Dr. Posluzny hummed thoughtfully. "…You work at a bar?"

"I'm a bartender at Organization XIII." Already my palms are starting to sweat like crazy. "My real interest is in psychiatry."

Dr. Posluzny raises a brow. "A very unusual field. One that most people are not apt to jump into enthusiastically."

"I've always been interested in abnormal psychology—helping people with problems I can't touch but are definitely real."

Dr. Posluzny laces his fingers together elegantly in front of him and leans forward into his chair. "Very poetically put."

I can't help but grin. "Thank you."

* * *

"Soooo how'd the interview go, Riku?" Axel, my best friend asks that night.

"Great!" I say, twirling the whiskey bottle with a flourish. "I think by this time next semester I'll be attending TTU."

"So how does this doctor thing work again?" Axel ties his fire engine red hair into a low ponytail.

"Four years in undergraduate school, four years in medical school, four years in residency—"

"Enough, enough, enough!" Axel nearly covers his ears. "That's too much school! Good God, all I need to know is that the endgame is you can prescribe me Xanax if I want you to!"

"Time is money, gentlemen," Luxord, the cashier, sing-songs without taking his eyes off the cash register.

"Right, boss…" we both mutter at the same time. Axel goes to fetch a bottle while I pour a shot for a customer. The man thanks me, tosses back the drink like it could save him if he swallowed it fast enough, and begins to talk. I listen.

"Demyx, get your skinny ass up on that piano!" Luxord barks.

"Righie-o, boss!" Demyx shimmies and wiggles his way up the stage and greets the evening crowd.

Axel pours drinks.

Demyx sings at the stand.

Saix breaks up fights.

Luxord counts cash.

I listen.

And when the man—now more than just slightly buzzed—salutes me with a monotonous good-night, another man starts to talk. I listen again. And when he's done, someone else pours their heart out. Their stories of aches and sighs are normal to me. So much so a minute of silence bothers me to no end and I can't help but ask another long-faced man what was his story.

It's just another night.

* * *

I step out of _Naught's Skyway_ at three in the morning, taking my usual route home down a well-lit path. I stop by my favorite 24-hour convenience store for a moment to buy a blue raspberry-paupu icee and resume my trek to my apartment. On a whim, I decide to take the scenic route down by one of Destiny's beaches. One of the perks of living on an archipelago was that the beach was never really too far, even when you're living on the main island. A sip my icee idly as I inhale the scent of salt through my nose. I look up at the sky, tracing my own imaginary constellations in the stars.

I wonder if there are any worlds out there that are as tiny as the Destiny Isles. If so, is there someone like me looking up and wondering about the exact same thing? There must be... if there are that many worlds.

My thoughts are cut short by a sudden chill in the air. Odd. Destiny is never cold In the middle of summer. A sharp, icy pain suddenly shoots up my leg. I cry out and try to scuttle away but whatever has a hold my leg doesn't let go. In fact, I think I can feel it _climbing._

I fall backwards, scrambling to see what was attacking me. The first thing I see is a pair of yellow eyes peering up at me. It takes me a while to see the rest of the creature because its body is so black it was practically invisible in the night. Reflexively, my free foot comes up and kicks the thing between the eyes. It releases me and I'm tearing across the beach without looking back.

What the hell _was_ that thing? There were no creatures on Destiny like that! Who the hell am I supposed to call for help? Police? National Guard? Animal Control? _!_

Something cold collides into my back, knocking me to the ground face-first. The familiar chilling pain stabbing into my back confirms my worst fear: the thing that had attacked me at the beach was finally going to kill me.

Just as I prepare myself for my inevitable death, a blinding light fills the beach. I twist my head around and squint into the light—

* * *

— _And suddenly I am flying through the rooftops of Destiny, light as a feather. I feel so free I can almost feel the wind lifting me up at my feet._

_I make my way to the business district, home to the few skyscrapers Destiny has. What am I doing here? Wasn't I on my way home? Wasn't there… something…?_

_My eye catches a reflection in the shiny windows of a skyscraper and I see that something is wrong, but I don't know what. My eyes are blue, like they always are. My spikey hair is brown, like it always is._

_Wait… No._

_That's not me—_

* * *

I wake up in my bed, the afternoon sunlight pouring into my room and my covers tangled around my legs.

Blinking several times, I slowly sit up and survey my surroundings. Sure enough, I am back in my apartment. I glance at my clock. 6:45 PM; just enough time for me to get ready and head to work.

…what weird dream. It was kind of cool though—all that flying. And that guy…

That guy was really _hot._

* * *

The bar is dirtier than usual today. A fight had broken out and it nearly consumed our entire place. Larxene stabbed the sharp heel of her shoe into someone's stomach, Axel practically had to rip someone off of Namine, and I was forced to take a blow to the face before Xigbar decided to take action and bring some order into the chaos.

So here we are, cleaning. We managed to rope Demyx into helping us by bribing him with alcoholic drinks, at least. As per our usual custom, Axel pours us a couple drinks and we toast to the night.

"To music!" Demyx shouts.

"To your future, Riku," Axel says as he raises the glass to me. "May you be a successful psychiatrist."

"May I always give you your Xanax refills, you mean, right?" I say with a wry smile as I hold the alcoholic drink to my lips.

_Hey!_

"Did you say something?" I ask.

"Eh?" Axel asks after he sets down his shot glass.

"Shh!" I wait for a moment, listening.

Silence.

Demyx makes a rather not so subtle gesture to Axel that he should cut me off already. I ignore them and try to drink—

_Don't you dare!_

"Okay, guys, you can't tell me you didn't hear that!" I place the glass down and glare at both of them.

Demyx and Axel cast wary looks at each other before turning to me again.

"Get some rest, Riku," Axel advises. "I think you need it."

The fact that I heard a voice that no one else could hear kept bothering me the entire way home. An ugly knot forms in my throat. There was probably someone shouting outside the bar that Axel and Demyx couldn't hear.

Yeah, that's probably it. I can't be hearing voices all by myself because then, I'd…

* * *

_I open the door carefully. I'm so small I have to tiptoe to reach the knob. I can already hear him muttering to himself quietly. Nonsense words, disconnected ideas that no one can understand, not even him._

"… _corpuscles, muscles, luzzle… And if we just reduce the amount… the momentum… lock it in—block it in. Frazzle yourself. Then I'd understand. We cook. Bunsen. Bunsen, we cook! Don't you understand you, fool? Pretzels! And he'll come. He comes in the dark."_

_He stands in the bleak, dark room, talking about these strange things. He does nothing else._

" _Dad?" I call tentatively._

" _LEAVE ME ALONE!"_

* * *

I shiver. Even now that memory frightens me. I quickly search for something else to focus on. I stab my key into my mailbox lock and open it.

My heart leaps into my throat when I see a letter with the Destiny University crest on it. I snatch it up and carefully, but quickly, open the letter.

My eyes quickly fly to the line, " _we are honored to accept you_ " and as far as I knew the rest of the letter was meaningless. I had done it.

I had a future.

* * *

_I'm flying again, zipping through the small metropolitan area of Destiny's main island. No, I'm not flying. I'm running… running after—_

" _Sora, he's getting away!" someone from behind me shouts so loudly I almost jump. It almost feels like whoever-it-is is shouting at me, but… I'm not Sora. Gods, this is weird dream._

" _I'm goin'!" a voice says. It's me. No… it's coming from me. But it's not me. What is this?_

_I'm running faster, my head is zipping back and forth so fast I'm getting dizzy. Finally, I see what I'm after and I launch myself into the air. I can feel my eyes water, a pit wallows in my stomach, and I scream because I now realize this is one of those dreams where I crash—_

Oh, calm down! I won't crash! Geez…

_What?_

And can you keep it down, please? I'm trying to concentrate.

_Wha—wait. Are you… Are you talking to_ me _?_

Well, duh!

_Oh God. Oh my God, this isn't a dream._

* * *

As I… he… we…? As he plummets, the world rushes towards me and his feet rises to meet it. The moment his shoes hit the ground he is moving. His hand whips out and with a burst of light something shiny, bright, and very, very real materializes. A key.

KEYBLADE. The word comes from the other guy's mind and reverberates in mine. Something inky black rises from the ground, bubbles up like a thick liquid before splitting into multiple, wiggling masses.

/I know what those are! Those are the things that attacked me last night!/

Heartless. Again the word comes from the other mind. But this time it feels different, it makes me frightened.

He's moving fast, slicing down the small monsters like nothing. This is child's play for him, I realize in awe.

"Shoot!" I hear him mutter under his breath. "It's not here."

/What isn't here?/

"The big one. The one I'm looking for."

/There's a _big one_? You're kidding!/

His head turns from side to side for a moment. "No, I'm not. Now pipe down. I need to find it before it gets away."

/No! Fuck that! You tell me what's going on right now! Right now or I will start screaming!/

"Oh, for the love of…!" I can feel him gritting his teeth. "Can't we do this later?"

/Not later. Now./

His irritation with me is palpable. But I don't back down.

All of a sudden the world breaks away, piece by piece like large shards of glass, before finally giving away to bright, white light.

And when I open my eyes again, I can see myself; my own hands, my own feet. I am in a magnificent room with blue-white stone walls and a beige floor. Blue pillars decorated in gold and grand doors are on either side of me. I glance behind me, towards a beautiful glass window that filters in iridescent light. I can feel shadows of emotions and whispers of memories stirring around me like a vibrant cloud. This place is very dear to him, I can tell.

"So," a voice says from behind me, "where do you want to start?"

I whirl around and I see him again: the brunet from my dreams. I now see all of his strange attire from his black and white jumper to his ridiculous yellow shoes. He looks younger than I thought he would be. He can't be older than 18.

"How about names?" I say, crossing my arms. "I'm Riku Yorushi."

"Sora," his blue eyes light up. "And I'm a Keyblade Master."

"A what?"

"Keyblade Master," he repeated, holding his hand out to me. Again, in a flash of light and stardust, the key-like weapon is in his hands. "Or Keybearer. Basically, I'm the one with the Keyblade."

Okay. …sure.

"And… that thing is a weapon?" I ask.

"The only real weapon that the Heartless fear."

"You mean those monsters you fought just now? The ones that…" a cold ice cube of dread creeps way up my throat when I realize that last night hadn't been a dream. "…the ones that attacked me last night."

"Yup. So here's the short version." Sora pauses, inhales deeply through his nose, and starts belting out words so fast I can barely keep up with him. "Heartless are bad. The heartless steal hearts. Not _actual_ hearts but spiritual hearts." At this point he begins to gesture wildly. "When they take them from people, those people turn into heartless too. But people aren't the only ones with heart. There are tons of worlds out there and each one of them has a heart, too. Heartless eventually seek the heart of the world and when they find it the world falls into darkness and disappears. So it's my job to prevent that by fighting them with the Keyblade and sealing the world. With the Keyblade. …Yeah." By the end of that lengthy monologue, he's panting and my head is spinning. I say nothing. Well… it's more like I don't even know what to say.

"I know this sounds absolutely crazy—" Sora says.

No shit, Sherlock!

"—but the thing is _that's_ not even the craziest part."

Oh, boy.

"Just…" Sora shifts his weight from foot to foot, "try to take it in stride, okay?"

I nod. What else can I do?

"So what does all this have to do with me?" I ask. "Why are you in my head?"

He bites his lip. Not good.

"Riku, I'm not in your head," he says. "You're in mine."

Silence.

"And what…" I begin slowly, because my head is literally throbbing, "…is that supposed to mean?"

"Last night… you don't happen to remember a big, bright light, do you?" Sora asks.

"Um, yeah."

"Well, that was me. Driving a gummi ship. Crashing into you."

… … …

"Let me get this straight: you _KILLED_ me." I take a step forward and I feel a sense of gratification rush through me as the almighty Keyblade Master takes a step back. "You… _mother-fucking killed me_ with a gummy bear ship."

" _Gummi_ ship," Sora corrects. "And I'm really sorry about that!"

"'Sorry,' doesn't exactly cut it!" I say vehemently. "I—why did you—what the hell, Sora! Just… what the fucking hell!"

"You know, that language really isn't appreciated!" Sora says, his hands on his hips. "And it's not like I did it on purpose! It was an accident! I was honestly trying to save you!"

"Yeah, well, you did a bang-up job!" I retort.

Sora's face nearly turns red all the way to his ears. The room shivers sympathetically with him. The air seems to vibrate as if charged with electricity. He's mad, I can feel it. I can tell that anger is a foreign expression for him, but he reigns in his rage and speaks diplomatically. "My friend Donald sent your… remains to someone who can help. There wasn't a lot of you left, so it's going to take a while to reconstruct your body. In the meantime, I'm carrying your heart with me to keep it from disappearing."

"So when I'm… on the outside…"

"You'll look like you," Sora gestures to me. "Silver hair and all. And when I'm out, I'll look like me. It's the best Donald could do. We're gonna have to share, but if we get along, we should be able to work it out."

I wanted to say that there was absolutely no way I could share my life. I mean, I had work and friends and responsibilities! And school! How am I supposed to go to school when my other half chases around evil, darkness creatures! _?_

But what could I do? I'm stuck in this position whether I like it or not.

"All right," I say. "Sounds good." At least Sora is owning up to what he did, for that I am thankful.

Sora smiles. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Riku," he begins. "I've got some work to do."

The image of the grand room breaks away into white and my world rushes towards me. Sora rockets into the skies again, scanning the terrain below for Heartless.

"There!" Sora says, shooting towards the ground and landing safely on the earth.

Before him is a gigantic, humanoid Heartless at least ten stories high with the same ghastly, yellow eyes as the Heartless that had attacked me yesterday. In the middle of the thing's chest is a large, gaping hole in the shape of a heart. I almost cringe at the size of the monster, but Sora isn't scared. In fact, I swear he's _thrilled._ I can almost feel that excitement bleeding into my own psyche. Suddenly, Sora races forward, Keyblade at the ready. He leaps high into the air and drives the end of his weapon into the thing's broad chest. It makes no noise, but it stumbles backwards and takes an awkward swing at Sora with a pitch-black hand.

However, Sora is already moving. He is sprinting up the Heartless' arm, his eye already on his next target: the head. He deals four, powerful strikes to the monster's face and jumps back to evade another glancing blow. He hits the ground running, circling the monster.

Meanwhile, I'm breathless with amazement.

/You're amazing!/ I tell him.

"Thanks!" he replies back, pleased.

With a great swing of Sora's Keyblade, the Heartless' leg buckles and it's on its knees. Sora reels his weapon back and—like a whip—throws it forward right between the Heartless' eyes.

It's over.

The giant monster jerks once more before falling backwards and disappearing into a dark haze. Sora sighs and rests his Keyblade on his shoulder.

"That takes care of that," he huffs. "Hey, Riku, do you know any good places to eat? I'm starving!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN KINGDOM HEARTS.  
> Weird story, huh?  
> Okay, so this fic was inspired by the anime, Birdy the Mighty, which is about a female, intergalactic officer named Birdy who accidentally kills a human boy, Tsutomu, in the crossfire of a battle with an alien fugitive who tried to seek refuge on Earth. Feeling sorry for him, she decides to transfer his consciousness into her own and they share a body while Tsutomu's body is being repaired.  
> See you all next chapter!  
> |Corrosive Moon|


	2. The Visitor From the Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get weird.

“Sora, what the hell did you do to my kitchen?” I ask out loud.

/Mm?/Sora asks sleepily. /What did I do? /

‘What did I do?’ he asks. I survey the room so he could see it. My cabinets were open, food cartons were thrown everywhere, cups and dishes were chilling in a dog pile in my sink.

“I turn my back for eight hours to get some shut-eye and you totally eat me out of house and home!”

/I was hungry. /Sora defends himself. /What was I suppose to do? Besides, technically I’m eating for two here. /

After just a week of living in Sora’s head, I’ve already populated a list of problems and, in no particular order, they are as follows:

(1) Sora has a monstrous appetite. The guy can eat three times his weight in one sitting easily. Unfortunately, according to him, it had always been that way and in fact, had _increased_ since our weird fusion. My only consolation is that Sora has a penchant for cheap foods like instant ramen and macaroni.

(2) No privacy. No elaboration needed.

(3) Talking to Sora out loud is all fine and dandy… unless I’m in a crowded room in public. In which case I look like a nutjob.

“Morning, Sora!” someone yells and I’m thrown back into what I’ve dubbed the “Flipside” as Sora rushes to meet his friends Donald and Goofy.

(4) Donald. Donald is an ill-tempered talking duck who happens to be a top-notch wizard from a fancy kingdom far, far away. (What. The. _Fuck_.) He has a personality that can be summed up with the word, “loud.” However, Donald is the one who authorized my body to be re-created and somehow managed to make Sora’s body co-inhabitable. So, unfortunately, I can’t really say anything against him to his face. The only person who would be more annoying that Donald would be…

(5) Goofy, the clumsy talking dog who apparently is a high-ranking knight from the same famous castle Donald’s from. Though unlike Donald, Goofy’s actually nice, but half the time he’s either wrecking something or sleeping or has his attention elsewhere.

I honestly don’t know who to be afraid of more: Donald, Goofy, or the idiot who appointed them to their distinguished positions.

“Found anything yet?” Sora asks them.

“Nope!” Goofy replies brightly. “Nuthin’!”

Sora sighs.

/I still don’t understand what you’re looking for,/ I say. /Didn’t you already kill the monster?/

“It’s not that simple, Riku,” Sora says aloud, he often forgets that he can talk to me mentally.

/So why don’t you tell me?/

“I already told you: it’s official Keybearer business. You already know too much as it is.”

/Like I’m not gonna know when you find whatever it is you’re looking for! I _see_ and _hear_ everything you do, lame-ass!/

Sora heaves a deep sigh and slaps his palm to his forehead.

“What’s up, Sora?” Goofy asks.

“It’s Riku. He’s kind of being a jerk.”

/Oh, don’t you blame this on me!/

Sora rubs his temple. “You don’t have to yell,” he mumbles to me.

/And you don’t have to turn this into a complete exercise in futility,/ I shoot back. /What’s the thing you’re looking for?/

“All right, all right,” Sora turns away from his friends, “you remember when I told you that the Heartless can plunge worlds into darkness?”

/Yeah./

“They do that by finding a keyhole in the world. A special keyhole that leads to the heart of the planet. The heartless crawl into the keyhole and destroy the world from the inside out.”

/And you can stop it by locking up the keyhole with the Keyblade, I’m guessing?/ I remember Sora’s brief overview the first night I was aware of him.

“Yup. The best way to find the Keyhole is to watch the Heartless’ movements. They’re naturally drawn to it.”

/So what’s the hold up?/

“I don’t know.”

/You’re lying./

“How in the world do you _do_ that? _!_ ” he asks in exasperation.

“What’s he doing?” Donald asks, folding his arms suspiciously.

“Nothing,” Sora replies quickly.

/One, you’re terrible at lying. Two, I’m in your freakin’ head. Quite literally./

Sora doesn’t give me an answer right away. “…We think that there’s someone out there controlling the Heartless.”

/You can _do_ that?/

“That’s what we’re trying to find out. We’re going to continue our search tonight.”

/Tonight? But I have work!/

“Your very _world_ is at stake here, Riku. Besides, I don’t think working at a bar is doing you any good. And stop drinking for goodness sake! Do you have any idea how bad alcohol is for you?”

/I work at a bar. Think about what you just asked./

* * *

I can tell there’s more to the story than what Sora was willing to tell me. But since he’s trying so hard to hide it, I figured it was best not to pry.  Sora decides to patrol around the main island while Donald and Goofy looks for clues at the surrounding islands.

“So you’re studying to be a psychiatrist,” Sora says.

/Sora, headset./

“Oh, yeah! Right!”

Since Sora still has a terrible habit of talking out loud to me, I make sure he carries a bluetooth headset so he can put it on his ear.

”Soooo… psychology,” he continues. “Sounds neat.”

/Yeah. It’s pretty cool./

“What made you get into it?”

/…My dad was schizophrenic./

That’s an answer Sora isn’t prepared for. He fidgets for a moment. “Oh,” he says quietly. “Um, sounds rough.”

/It was. Schizophrenia usually hits early. Like in the twenties or thirties. So, I kinda grew up with him like that./

I try not to think about it but I do anyway. My father is in his room, waving his arms wildly, shouting at people that aren’t there. I used to be scared of him. I used to hate him, too. But when I got older and he only got worse, I began to pity him. He lived out the rest of his life lost in a horrifying imaginary world. All up until he…

Sora continues walking idly through the streets. I think he can sense that this topic was uncomfortable and painful for me, but he doesn’t seem to feel awkward about it. He seems…. Genuinely curious. I change the subject.

/So how do you become a Keyblade Master?/ I ask.

“You have to have a special heart—a strong heart that’s capable of manifesting a Keyblade,” Sora says. “When the Master sees that you’ve got potential, you can start training to be a Keyblade Master.”

/A Master? There’s a Master?/

“Duh.” Sora rolls his eyes. “You think we just run around all willy-nilly?”

/How many more of there are you?/

Sora hesitates.

/I’m gonna find out anyway,/ I add.

“Three. Four, I guess, if you count Kairi, but she’s still in training.”

/Kairi?/

A girl with short red hair, kind, blue eyes, and a big smile is conjured up in Sora’s memory. The image is heart-warming and beautiful. They’re close, I can tell. Very close.

/Is she your girlfriend?/

Sora bursts out laughing. “Kairi? No way!” he says. “She’s like my sister.”

/So there’s only four of you, more or less. And you have to defend all the worlds?/

“Yup. You got it.”

/That sounds like a lot of work./

“Well, it’s not like I’m on my own,” Sora says.

Suddenly Sora is showing me more things in his mind, faces, people, places— _worlds_.

I am in a marketplace. It is insufferably hot in the desert. Sandstone houses are around me. A tanned young man with black hair is talking with a monkey on his shoulder. A magic carpet swoops down from the sky and the man hops on it with a grin on his face. There is a princess he has to meet.

I am under the ocean. The water is clean and clear. A girl—no, a mermaid with flowing red hair is swimming towards me with a red crab and yellow flounder at her side. She is small, but she is strong. She longs to go to the surface and every night she dreams of other worlds.  

I am in the dark. There are nightmares around me, but I am not afraid. They are my friends. A lithe skeleton in a black suit is dancing happily with a gray-skinned, patch-work woman with long, red hair, red lips, and wide eyes.

I am in a castle that is more than it seems. The suits of armor move and the furniture talks. The candelabra and the clock fight the most, but they’re the best of friends. I see a monstrous beast, but even though his appearance is frightening I know he is my friend. He is searching for someone. A young woman named Belle. She is everything to him.  

/Wow./ I say in astonishment.

“That’s just a little of what I’ve seen,” Sora says.

/It’s fantastic! And there’s more?/

“Tons more!”

I feel ecstatic and I think Sora does too, talking about the things he’d seen. Suddenly something catches Sora’s eye, a man in a black, hooded, leather jacket who was shifting through the crowd. It was a strange sight for someone to be dressed in a full-body garment on a place as tropical as Destiny, but no one seemed to notice except Sora and I.

Instantly, Sora’s mind becomes sharp, clear, and focused. That man is familiar to Sora, but not in a good way. Through Sora’s senses I can tell that the man in black is more than what he appears. He isn’t human.

/Sora, who is that?/

‘Not now, Riku,’ the brunet replies. Crap, he’s actually remembering not to talk out loud to me. That’s not a good sign.

Sora’s shifts through the crowd like a ghost after the mysterious man. He heads out to the coast and glides over the water towards a familiar direction.

‘Where is he going, Riku?’ Sora asks.

/Over there’s a small island./ Through my memories I show Sora a path to the cave I had visited often in my childhood. It was a secret place riddled with childhood drawings. I haven’t thought about it in a long, long time. In my youth it had been a place full of adventure. Dark and dank and mysterious; in the back there was a great, big door with strange golden markings. Even though there was no doorknob, no indication that the slab of wood was a door, I knew it could open.

‘Riku, that’s—!’

Sora’s mind jerks into overdrive the moment I show him the image of the door. He picks up the pace in his pursuit, his hands itching to summon the Keyblade.

We quickly commandeer a small dingy and follow the man out to sea, my memory guiding Sora to the familiar path to the island and the once well-walked trail to the cave. We crawl through the small opening.

“Who are you!” Sora demands as he finally wiggles free from the tunnel and gets to his feet. But there is no one. “Damn! Did you see where he went, Riku?”

/No, I didn’t,/ I reply.

Sora sighs, crestfallen.

/Who _was_ that guy?/

“An anonymous party,” Sora responds, “who’s been trailing us since we started.”

/Creepy. What do you think he wants?/

“We have no idea.” Sora catches sight of the door. The Keyblade vibrates in his hand. Sora raises his weapon and a beam of golden light shoots out of the tip and at the door. A keyhole appears to receive the light and a distinct sound of a lock clicking is heard. As quickly as the keyhole appears, it’s gone.  

“There,” Sora says. “At least this world is safe.”

/He led us here to the door,/ I say. /Why do you think he would do that? Is he a bad guy?/

“I don’t know.” Sora inhales deeply and sighs loudly, blowing away all of his troubles in an instant in a way that only he can. “Well, he’s gone now.”

He looks up at the cave, tracing my childhood artworks inscribed in cheap chalk on the dark stone. He laughs as he spots a poor rendition of a fish. “Nice work,” he giggles.

/Oh, shut up, like you can do any better,/ I mutter.

“Looks like you really partied it up when you were a kid,” Sora looks up at the ceiling, which also had a few tic-tac-toe games.

/Nah, it was just me,/ I replied. /I didn’t have any friends as a kid./

“…Are you sure?” Something is turning in the back of Sora’s mind, something he’s trying to keep from me.

/Sora?/

“Hey, Riku, how do you play Hang Man?”

The question throws me off guard. /What do you mean ‘how do you play Hang Man?’ You think of a word, draw as many blanks as there are letters in that world, and the other player has to guess it—“

“Right, so you need two people to play Hang Man.”

/Yeah./

“So how didyou play Hang Man by yourself?” Sora points to a few Hang Man games scribbled on the wall.

I stare at the stone for a moment, trying to conjure up the memory in my mind. /I…/

But I draw a blank.

/…I…/

“And Riku, something else has been bothering me since you told me about your father. You said that schizophrenia starts up early so your father obviously couldn’t take care of you while you were growing up and you don’t have a mother. …So who took care of you?”

Suddenly I’m aware of a big, gaping emptiness in my memory—in my _life._ It was so big and vast, how could I have not noticed? I could feel the entirety of it now in my mind, a blank, black amorphous nothing that shouldn’t be there.

/Sora… Sora what’s wrong with me? Why can’t I remember?!/

* * *

 


	3. The Lonely Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sora thinks they should seek help.

/Riku, calm down…/

“How am I supposed to calm down, Sora!? _Tell_ me!” I shout. I’m so agitated Sora allowed me out of the Flipside. I’m pacing quickly in my living room. “I mean, I… My life doesn’t make sense! How in the—how the hell is that even possible!? Sora, I… I don’t understand…”

So much has happened in the last few weeks. I had finally gotten started on a viable future, had died and had my spirit transferred to an otherworldly Keyblade Master with an unhealthy knack for running towards danger, and now I had just found a gaping hole in my childhood!

The world is spinning. I feel sick.

“I think I’m having a meltdown,” I mutter quickly. “Or a breakdown, or whatever the hell you call it. God, fuck. _Fuck_. Shit. I think I’m going to throw up.”

/Put your head between your knees,/ Sora advises, tolerating my foul language in lieu of my circumstances. /Take some deep breaths. We’ll figure this out together, okay? I know someone who can help you./

“R-really?” I lift my head for a moment, feel the world lurch, and drop it back between my knees. “Who?”

/Master Yen Sid, a wizard and a close friend of King Mickey. He’s also the one who’s currently repairing your body./

“Well, let’s go see him! We need to find Donald and head out tomorrow morning!”

/Why Donald?/ Sora asks, sounding offended. /I can drive the Gummi—oh, right./

* * *

“Gawrsh, Sora, you look more twitchy than usual,” Goofy says as he watches Sora fiddle with his seat belt for the umpteenth time.

“I can’t help it,” Sora sighs helplessly. “Riku’s so stoked he’s getting me all fired up.”

/Oh, screw you, I’ve never been in a rocket before! This is so cool! Sora, what does that button do?/

“That’s the self-destruct button. And if you don’t pipe down right now, I’ll push it myself.”

From the Flipside, I grin. Donald snickers as he pushes a few more buttons.

“All right, we’re ready to go,” Donald says. “Setting a course for the Magic Tower.”

Sora exhales sharply and presses his back against the seat. He knows what’s coming next; he’s done this probably a hundred times.

“Here we go!” Donald punches a button and we’re thrown back as the ship launches into the atmosphere. Clouds fly passed as we soar upwards. For a moment I feel like I’m about to be crushed, even while I’m safe in the Flipside. But the feeling is brief and I feel the ship level out when we’re out of the upper stratosphere and shoot even higher. The pressure on Sora’s chest lifts and he leans forward to look out the window.

“Sure is something, isn’t it, Riku?” he asks.

I can’t even formulate a response. Outside the window was a spectacular view. The movies had it all wrong. Space wasn’t pitch black, but a jaw-dropping aurora of colors twirling and whirling in front of a multitude of stars.

“We travel a special route,” Sora explains. “Something about riding the rainbow or whatever. Donald explained it to me once.”

In the driver’s seat, Donald grumbles something about short attention spans. Goofy chuckles and reclines his chair for a quick nap.

After a bit of nagging, Sora finally agrees to let me explore the Gummi ship on the outside world. “So every star is a world?” I ask.

/Yeah,/ Sora responds.

“Have you been to every world?”

/Not even!/ Sora laughs. /It’d probably take forever to visit every world./

“How many have you been to?”

/About ten or fifteen. It’s hard to keep track sometimes. A few of them have, like, alternate dimensions and stuff./

The Gummi ship itself is very small. I barely have enough room to stand up straight and there was a small bathroom and some snacks, but no kitchen.

/We don’t need one,/ Sora explains. /This ship has a warp function so we basically get to every world in fifteen minutes or less./

“Cool!” I raise my hand to press a shiny button—

/Don’t touch that!/ Sora reprimands me.

Within ten minutes we arrive at a new world. It is small, hardly bigger than a house and only comprises of a strip of land and a two-story tower.

I stepped out of the Gummi ship and survey my scant surroundings.

“This is Yen Sid’s place?” I ask. I sort of expected an elaborate medieval tower.

/Don’t be ridiculous,/ Sora snaps. /Come on, go follow Donald and Goofy./

The door to the tower opens and a stern-faced man with gray hair and a long beard steps out. He is dressed in a simple blue robe. On his head is a pointy hat adorned with golden images of a moon and stars.

“Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku,” he addresses all of us. “Good of you to come.”

“Master Yen Sid,” Sora throws me back to the Flipside so he could bow with Donald and Goofy in sync. “Thank you for seeing us.”

Yen Sid cranes his head before he turns to the doors, his robes sweeping after him. “Come in, come in. I am eager to hear about your conundrum.”

We follow Yen Sid into the building and climb up a flight of stairs that lead to the very top. Yen Sid seats himself behind a grand desk and gestures at Sora with his hands.

“Master Yen Sid,” Sora begins. “As you know, I accidentally killed Riku a few weeks ago and I’ve been carrying his heart ever since in order to preserve it.”

Yen Sid nods.

“Yesterday, we came across the man in black again and he led us to a cave where we found the Keyhole to the world. I sealed it and found something unusual: Riku had a caretaker in his life he doesn’t remember at all.”

Yen Sid doesn’t rush to answer. “You feel that Riku’s lost memory is connected to something much bigger?”

“I think it’s worth looking into. Riku spent a majority of his childhood playing in a cave with an open door to other worlds pouring things into his mind every time he went there. Someone was—and maybe still is—interested in Riku. And whoever it is went through the trouble of isolating him from his father and covering his tracks.”

/Wait, what? What do you mean someone isolated me from my father?/ I ask. I can sense that Sora is very uncomfortable. He turns away from Yen Sid.

“Last night, I went to the psychiatric hospital where your dad was committed, Riku,” he says to me quietly.

/What? _!_ Why?/

“A hunch. When you were thinking about your father, there was something that felt… strange. I went to the hospital last night and combed through their files. Turns out your father had consistently been saying something about someone who visits him at night.” Through Sora’s memory I see bits and pieces of my dad’s ramblings written on paper in a doctor’s terrible penmanship: ‘only at night, I see him,’ ‘why does he like the dark?’ ‘shh… I can hear him…. Pitter patter, quieter than a mouse… If I wait maybe he’ll come.’

Sora continues, “The psychiatrist figured that it was probably just part of his illness, but…”

/You think he was…/ I’m so shocked I can barely wrapped my mind around what I’m about to say, /…you think somebody actually _did_ come to see him? That… that someone _made_ him crazy?/

“To get close to you, yes.”

The idea was insane. It was so mind-bending I felt dizzy again. /But… why…? What’s so special about me?/

“I don’t know, Riku. But that’s what I want to find out.”

“Those are radical speculations, Sora,” Yen Sid says gravely. “If what you say is true, we might be on the fringe of something terrible. We must act. Riku, come forward.”

Stepping into the real world, I inch towards Yen Sid’s desk with my stomach twisting. I’m afraid of what Yen Sid could find. Yen Sid moves from his desk and approaches me.

“This shouldn’t hurt,” he says, looking a little apologetic as he places a hand on each side of my head.

I feel something pushing into my mind. It’s uncomfortable, but it’s painless. I senseYen Sid as he comes to the blank spots of my memory. His brow furrows and my head throbs in pain.

Right as I feel Yen Sid push, my knees buckle and Yen Sid is thrown back.

/Riku? Riku, are you okay?/ I hear Sora.

Goofy is at my side while Donald rushes to check on Yen Sid. Goofy helps me to my feet.

“What happened?” Donald asks Yen Sid.

“I was… repelled,” Yen Sid replies, getting to his feet and straightening his robes. “Curious. Very curious…”

“What does this mean?” I ask eagerly.

“That perhaps Sora may be right.” Yen Sid adjusts his hat and settles into his chair. “Whoever has been interfering with Riku’s life is a very skilled individual. There are only a few that I know of who have the power to challenge my magic, a majority of whom work for the darkness. This does not bode well for us all.”

“What should we do?” Goofy asks.

“Seek out Maleficent in the Enchanted Dominion. Questioning her would be a good place to start. Perhaps she will be willing to point you in the right direction with the proper incentive. “

Donald snorts but clamps his hands over his bill a millisecond later.

“Sora,” Yen Sid continues, “I want you to work with Riku to recover his memories. The Keyblade could provide some help, but use it wisely.”

/Right!/ Sora says.

“Uh, he says ‘right,’” I repeat for the group.

* * *

‘So who’s Maleficent?’ I ask Sora.

/A witch,/ Sora replies.

He provides me with a montage of memories. I see a tall, thin woman cloaked in black with a sickly-green, oval-shaped face, and red lips. Two horns protrude from her head and a black crow perches on her shoulder.

In a flash of evil, green light, she transforms into a monstrous dragon.

/We beat her before,/ Sora continues. /Now she’s retreated to her home world./

‘What was she trying to do?’

/Take over the worlds, bring everything into Darkness, usual stuff. She was working with someone though, or at least, that’s what we suspect./

‘I bet it’s the guy who’s controlling the Heartless.’

/We think so too,/ Sora nods.

* * *

From the air, Maleficent’s castle looks like it would be envy of every wicked witch in every storybook fairytale. It’s too dangerous to make base so close to Maleficent’s castle, so we take refuge in another place. I retreat into the Flipside when we land. We’ve settled outside a beautiful castle that was surrounded by a multitude of black thorns. The sky is dark and bleak, there are no inhabitants.

/What happened here?/ I ask.

“It’s a long story,” Sora replies. “It starts with Maleficent taking Princess Aurora’s heart and putting her to sleep. Then Maleficent covered the entire Kingdom in darkness and the castle has been like this ever since.”

/What a bitch./

“Tell me about it,” Sora grins.

/And princess Aurora’s heart?/

“Lost. Probably with whoever Maleficent was working with. She won’t tell.”

/So are we just gonna knock on her door?/

“There’s no other way inside.”

/Fantastic…. Did you think on how we’re supposed to convince her to help us?/

“Uh…”

/You don’t really think things through, do you?/

“Not really!” Sora flashes that goofy grin again.

/We’re going to die,/ I sigh. /We’re going to die and I don’t even get to die in my own body./

“Oh, stop being such a drama queen. We stopped Maleficent once, we can do it again.”

We walk through the dreary gates. A pig, walking on his hind legs and wearing an armored helm, comes up to us.

“What do _you_ want?” the thing grunts.

Donald, who was hardly taller than the pig, fluffed up his feathers. “We’re here to see Maleficent.”

“She ain’t home.”

“Mind if we check that out for ourselves?” Sora asks, stepping beside Donald.

The pig gulps and stamps its hoofs nervously. Sora looks down at him, utilizing every bit of authority the status of Keyblade Master gave him. Finally, Maleficent’s minion steps aside and our group walks passed.

“Thank you,” Sora says and leads the gang through the grand doors and into a large hall.

Strange, stubby creatures of all shapes and sizes are huddled in small, silent groups inside the hall, a strange assortment of bipedal pigs, bird-like and bat-like monsters, and other weird fiends. Our group draws their attention as we walk in.   The little monsters begin to buzz uneasily, as if they were trying to urge each other to attack first. I’m nervous, but Sora walks fearlessly. A crow caws loudly and immediately the minions make themselves scarce. I can already guess what is happening: Maleficent was coming.

An eerie green light, haunting and mesmerizing, blooms slowly in front of us, eventually growing and shaping into a thin figure. I recognize her immediately from Sora’s memories.

“Keyblade Master,” Maleficent addresses detachedly as the crow perches on her shoulder. “To what do I owe the honor?” She looks bored as she laces her long, thin fingers over the orb on her staff.

“Maleficient, have you ever been to the Destiny Isles?” Sora asks.

She scoffs.

/I think that’s a no./ I say. /I bet you she avoids it because she bursts into flames when sunlight hits her./

Sora snorts. ‘Riku, shut up!’ he snaps at me a moment later. ‘I’m trying to be authoritative and diplomatic here!’

/Oh, sorry./

Maleficent lazily raises an eyebrow at the sign of disrespect, but she says nothing about it.

“What about an individual named Riku Yorushi? Silver hair? Pale? Pretty?”

/Pretty?/

‘Riku, I said be quiet!’

Maleficent straightens her back, just a little bit, however her face remains blank. Sora’s intuition spikes.

“You know something,” he says. Beside him, Donald and Goofy shift just a little bit, readying to fight if necessary.

Her red lips curl into the sweetest, cruelest smile I have ever seen. “And what of it, Keyblade Master? Are you going to strike me until I tell you the information you need?”

Sora clenches his teeth. I knew for a fact that it wasn’t in his nature to beat an answer out of anybody, not even an old nemesis. But there was nothing else to threaten her with.

/Ask her what she wants for the information,/ I tell him.

“There must be something you’d exchange for it,” Sora paraphrases my advice.

Maleficent’s smile turns into a frown. She faces the crow for a moment and they exchange thoughtful looks.

“You could kill yourself,” Maleficent says languidly. “Then I’d be more than happy to divulge the information you need.”

Donald squawks loudly.

I suck in my breath inwardly. /…Ice,/ I mutter.

I can feel that Sora’s pride is wounded, but he has enough self control not to show it in his face. He can see that he’s not going to get anywhere with this conversation and he turns to leave.

“She’s probably still pretty mad at us, isn’t she?” Goofy whispers to Donald as we leave the castle.

“Ya think?” Donald huffs loudly and ruffles his feathers in agitation. “Well, now what are we gonna do, Sora?”

“I dunno,” Sora shrugs. “Maleficent knows something. That alone can’t be good.”

/So you really think that my memory gaps have something to do with the Darkness?/

“Yes. It might even have something to do with the mysterious man in black. I have a terrible feeling that it’s all tied together. If Maleficent isn’t willing to help us, it looks like we’re going to have to try something else.”

/Like what?/

“Like you and me diving into your memories alone.”

/That doesn’t sound… safe./

“Yeah, I’m not too excited about doing that either.”

“Sora!” a new voice sounds.

Well, new to me. Sora recognizes who it is immediately. “Hey Rox!” he grins.

A young blond is walking towards us, looking half pissed and half happy at the same time. Sora provides me with a mass of memories of this blond. They grew up together and trained together, they were Keyblade Masters in arms, rivals, and…

…brothers—twins.

“Don’t ‘hey, Rox’ me!” Roxas snaps. “What the hell are you doing here? I’ve been camping out at this castle for _weeks_ and you stroll in without so much of a heads up? Jeez, Sora!”

“I didn’t know you were here.”

“Pssh, yeah,” Roxas places a hand on his hip. “The Master asked me to keep an eye on this world in case Maleficent acts up or anything. So how’s the old witch?”

“Kind of like one of those mean little cats, y’know? Sort of harmless-looking but filled with seething hatred?”

Roxas laughs.

“Maleficent hasn’t been up to anything, has she?” Sora asks.

“Nah. Mostly she’s been shut up in her castle, moping. Her lackies go out once in a while, but as far as any plans of universal catastrophe I’ve got squat. If anything comes up, I’ll find a way to reach you.”

“Thanks, bro.”

“So? Why did you suddenly decided to drop by the Enchanted Dominion?”

A great rush of anxiety hits Sora so hard I cringe. “Oh, just a small lead—miniscule, actually, almost laughable.” Sora flashes a very disarming smile at his brother.

Roxas crosses his arms and raises a brow at Sora. “Really?” he asks skeptically.

“Holy shiznit, look at the time!” Sora jerks his wrist in front of face and looks aghast at his imaginary watch. “Hate to rush off and leave you, Rox, but we gotta report Master Eraqus! Bye! Donald, Goofy, let’s rock ‘n’ roll!”

* * *

/You really suck at lying./

“Shut up, Riku,” Sora mumbles bitterly as he sulks in his seat. “I hate lying to Roxas. It’s just not in me.”

I snort, /Obviously. He totally suspects something now, dork./

Sora sighs. He thinks of Roxas for a moment. I see a spry young Sora and Roxas dueling with wooden keyblades by an ornate water fountain. Their keyblades lock and the battle suddenly becomes a test of strength. Both of their cheeks are red with exhilaration. With their faces so close together I can truly see that they are nearly identical.

With a great roar, Sora throws Roxas back. Roxas wobbles for a moment before falling onto the ground. Sora whoops, flailing his arms in victory while his brother pouts. Grinning, Sora extends his hand out to Roxas to help him to his feet. Roxas smiles in return.

The memory dissipates as Sora focuses.

‘We need to find a safe place to explore your memories uninterrupted,’ Sora thinks.

/Like what?/

‘Not Destiny Isles…’ Sora flips through his memories of worlds too fast for me to recognize.

At last, he stops in front of a memory that is comforting to him. It is a small room with a large, open window, and a twin-sized bed.

“Hmmm…” Sora says out loud. “It could work.”

/What’s that place?/

“My home.” Sora turns to Donald. “We’re heading to the Land of Departure.”

 


	4. Dive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sora and Riku explore Riku's memories in an attempt to put together the holes in Riku's life.

I had seen a little bit of Sora’s home before, back when he had first made me aware of our dual existence. Apparently, he and Roxas were brought there when they were very young and they lived there ever since.

“It’s the perfect place,” Sora tells me as he disembarks the ship with Donald and Goofy following after him. We landed in an open space in front of a large, pristine, white and gold castle. “The Master is here to help us, hardly any darkness reaches here, and Roxas would never suspect I’d go home!”

/But didn’t you just tell him you were going to report to your Master?/

“That’s the genius of it!” Sora argues happily. “He’d never guess I was telling the truth!”

Sora rushes through the main doors and into a very familiar grand hall, the very hall I had seen when Sora and I had our “face-to-face” conversation. A man dressed in garments reminiscent of feudal Japan greets us. His strides are purposeful, his back is straight, and his eyes held the focused gaze of a samurai. Yet, I can tell that behind his firm exterior is the cliché heart of a father. I can feel a surge of emotions from Sora; happiness, respect, platonic love.

“Sora, Donald, Goofy,” the man says with a warm smile. “What can I do for you?”

“Master Eraqus, it is good to see you,” Sora bows low in front of him. “I wish to stay and rest for a few days.”

I can tell that Eraqus is curious about Sora’s sudden need for R and R, but he does not pry, yet.

“By all means,” he says. “Your room is as you have left it. I will prepare the guest bedrooms for Donald and Goofy.” Sora catches Eraqus’ eye as he passes him and I _swear_ that he is looking through Sora and right at me.

/He knows,/ I whisper to Sora.

‘Just stay calm,’ Sora advises me.

Eraqus comes back a few minutes later and announces that the guest rooms are ready. “But before I let you retire…” he places his hands behind his back. The gesture makes Sora nervous (apparently the motion usually comes before a severe lecture.) “…Sora, is there something you wish to tell me?”

Predictably, Sora cracks and spills the information, though, a little bit more succinctly than I would have though him capable. Eraqus listens without interrupting, nodding and humming occasionally.

“So… I thought it would be a good idea to try and explore Riku’s memories here, where it’s safe,” Sora concludes.

Eraqus hums. “You made the right decision coming here, Sora. Naturally, I will gladly allow you to direct your mission as you see fit. However, I’d like to meet Riku first, if that is all right.”

Sora wastes no time in throwing me out of the Flipside.

“Uh, hi,” I say dumbly to the Master of the Keyblade Wielders. Donald and Goofy barely manage to stifle their laughter.

Eraqus bows. “Good everning, Riku,” he greets.

I awkwardly follow the suit, “Good evening, um, sir.”

“I apologize that my pupil killed you.”

“Oh, yeah, that. Well, no big,” I shrug. “Sora’s doing his best to fix me up, so that’s cool. It’s also pretty boss hanging around his head too.”

I think my vernacular contained more slang than Master Eraqus could understand, but he gives an approving nod.

“If you have any questions or concerns for me, please feel free to speak your mind. In the mean time, Sora, be on your best behavior for your guest.”

“Yes, sir,” Sora says, bringing himself out to the real world.

We walk down the beautiful hall. In the back of Sora’s mind I see there are memories springing up, but he’s focusing on the task at hand now.

Sora enters his room, allowing me a moment to absorb the general mess of clothes tossed here and there, a few models of worlds, and a beat-up wooden rendition of a keyblade. It surprises me how normal the room seems, as if it’s something I could expect on Destiny Isles.

Sora settles down on his bed. “I don’t really know what we’ll find, Riku,” he says seriously.

A wave of apprehension washes over me. I don’t know what’s going to happen either.

Sora lies down, letting his head hit the pillow. Above him, I see a small mobile of stars and spaceships hanging from the ceiling. It’s the last thing I see before Sora closes his eyes.

We sleep.

* * *

“Riku?”

I wake up to see Sora’s face hovering over mine. I involuntarily feel a small blush creeping on my cheeks. I had almost forgotten how beautiful Sora was since I rarely see him face-to-face.

Sora helps me to my feet.

“Where are we?” I ask. We are standing on a massive stained glass, circular platform in the middle of an impenetrable darkness. I glace at my feet, eyeballing the design for a moment. The stained glass is too large for me to see the entirety of the image, but I see a lot of bold gold and red lines zigzagging back and forth.

“It’s kind of hard to describe,” Sora replies. “This… is sort of like a place where hearts can be explored.”

“You’ve been here before,” I realize.

“Once, a long time ago.” Sora whirls around slowly, surveying his surroundings, before he focuses on me. “All right, let’s get down to business.”

“Where do we even start?” I ask.

“Let’s start with the cave,” Sora suggests. “You know that something’s wrong with that memory now. Think about it and take us there.”

I nod, shut my eyes, and begin to concentrate. I can picture the memory clearly in my head: the path to the cave, the island, the entrance, the sea air blowing through my hair…

And suddenly, I can feel the sun on my face and I can smell the salt of the sea. I open my eyes and the island of my childhood is laid out in front of me. With a small pitter-patter of footsteps, I see a 9-year-old version of me run pass us. With Sora leading, we follow him into the cave. My heart is beating hard in my chest. What in the world am I going to find?

I see my younger self humming in the cave as he draws some horrible rendition of a coconut tree.

“Don’t be mean,” Young Riku giggles he turns and grins at us. Since this is a memory, I know he wouldn’t be addressing Sora and I. With a quick glance about the cave we quickly see that there is no one else here.

Sora has his keyblade at the ready, one hand is raised behind him, warning me to keep my distance. Because of our deep link, I can feel Sora’s focus. Through him I can feel something wrong in the memory, something dark that shouldn’t be here.

Something fake.

“There.” Sora raises his weapon and the memory literally seems to pixelate out of shape.

“What do you want to do today?” I hear my younger self ask as he looks to us again. “We can play tic-tac-toe, or hang man—"

"How about hang man?  I like that game." says a new, deep voice.

“Holy Hell!” I jump, startled. Inches in front of me, is a man wearing a dark, brown cloak. His face is hidden by the hood.

“Riku, shush!” Sora hushes me sharply, his eyes on the man.

"Okay, but you can’t use big words again.” Little Riku giggles. “You can’t use made-up words, either!”

The man in the cloak chuckles.  "All right."

We watch as Young Riku talks with the stranger amiably. Sora circles the man constantly, his deep blue eyes analyzing every detail and committing it to memory. It’s a wonder to watch him work.

“Hey, I got it!” my younger self shouts triumphantly. “Look, I got it!”

The man chuckles. “Very good, Riku,” he pats Little Riku’s shoulder and I shudder.

“Eww! Get your creepy pedo hands off me, sicko!” I shout.

Sora shoots me a dirty look and I immediately pipe down. Then I start to think, where else are things wrong? How deeply has this stranger penetrated my life? I turn, and I see that the whole scenery has changed. I am in a place I never wanted to see again: my childhood home.

My dad is mumbling to himself in the dark. It was always dark in the house because he liked it that way.

“But you see it makes no sense—mistakes. Oh yes, that’s right. It has to be dark. Always. No! No no no no…. That’s ugly.” My father is walking back and forth in the living room quickly, his eyes darting every which way. “Why would you? Go away! Shh! Shhhhh!”

I can see Little Me standing in the hallway. I look every bit as depressed as I thought I would be. Then the man in the cloak comes from the shadows and takes my hand. The younger me looks up at the man and smiles.

“Don’t worry, Riku,” the stranger comforts me. “Don’t you worry about a thing, okay?”

He leads Little Me away. Then the world fades into a deep darkness. I panic immediately. Sora is nowhere to be found.

“Hello? Hello!” I shout. “Sora!”

“Well, well.... If it isn’t Riku. All grown up, I see,” says a voice.

I jump and look around me. But I can’t seem to be able to figure out where the voice is coming from.

“You’re the man, aren’t you? The man from my memories?” I yell. “Come out, you sick bastard!”

“Is that any way to talk to your best friend?”

“What kinda friend hangs out in the shadows of someone’s childhood?” I retort. “Who are you!”

The man chuckles. “There’s no need to be so distressed. I’m sure if you calm down for a moment, it’ll come to you.”

_“Who are you?”_ says a voice. I am suddenly standing on the beach of my small island. I see a young me sitting on the sand, half-way through constructing a poorly thought-out castle. Next to Little Riku I see the man in the dark, brown cloak.  

“I’m your friend,” the man replies.

The young me frowns. “I don’t have any friends. My dad scares them off,” he sulks and turns back to his castle.

“Your dad won’t scare me off.”

“How would you know?”

“Because, Riku, we’re going to be best friends.”

Maybe if my dad hadn’t been sick, he would have warned me better when it came to talking to strangers. Maybe I would have been able to avoid all this if he had just…

I shake the thought away. It was no use. My dad was a crappy father, and I had been so lonely…

Little Me cocks his head to one side. “What’s your name?”

Underneath the shadows his hood, I see the man's white teeth as he smiles. “Ansem. But you can call me Anny if you want.”

Young Riku smiles back. “Hi Anny. Do you want to play?”

The memory fades into blank.

“Anny,” I repeat after myself. The name resonates inside me like an old, well-known song. I turn to Ansem—Anny—once more. “You’re Anny.”

Anny smiles. His image is slowly becoming clearer to me. I see two orange eyes gazing at me appreciatively from his hood. “You’re coming along much more nicely than I’d hoped, Riku.”

“What the shit is that supposed to mean!” I say. “Out with it!”

Anny wags his index finger at me and clicks his tongue. The familiarity of the gesture catches me off guard.

“Not yet, Riku. You’re still not ready for that. Sometime soon, yes, but not now.” He’s fading away, slipping back into the shadows.

“Hey! I’ve got questions, you freak!” I run after him. I don’t know exactly what I could do, but I wasn’t going to let him leave me high and dry after dropping a mind-fuck bomb on me. My hands grasp his cloak. “Why! Why me, huh? _!_ ”

The cloth slips through my fingers like water and for a moment I thought that Anny was just a figment of my imagination. Suddenly, a very real hand sweeps up, grasps my throat, and hoists me into the air. My own hands immediately fly to the grip on my windpipe.

“Because, Riku…” Anny says in a low voice, “…you’re perfect.”

And Anny chucks me into the abyss of darkness. I’m falling…

…falling…

… … …falling…

_“Riku!”_

I hit the floor of Sora’s room face-first. The excruciating pain makes me yelp and in moments I’m curled on my side in agony.

/Riku!/ Sora’s voice shouts in my head. /Riku, are you all right?/

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” I mumble, “my face hurts like a motherfucker, though…”

/What happened?/

“I met him,” I sit up and quickly check if my nose is bleeding. It isn’t. “I met him, Sora. And I know his name: Ansem.”


End file.
